I can’t wait for Star Fox Zero and Guard to enter my life. Judging by the newest trailers the graphics seem to have been spruced up nicely, I love the look of the helicopter type vehicle and the ‘chicken walker’ mode of the Arwing. Te snippets of music I’ve heard from some of the trailers and previews sound delightful, and I just know I’m going to take to the unique control scheme like a duck takes to water.

I also find Star Fox Guard to be mighty intriguing, it’s shaping up to be quite the unique and fun twist on the Tower Defense genre. The concept of placing 12 cameras fitted with lasers all around the various bases to intercept the mechanized mooks is very interesting. The closest I’ve ever played to a proper Tower Defense game is probably that mini-game in Final Fantasy VII, so I look forward to defending Slippy’s uncle, Grippy’s bases from the encroaching robotic menace.

I still can’t believe the amount of cantankerous reactions towards Star Fox Zero’s motion controls from certain (dark) corners of the Internet. I can guarantee most of the detractors haven’t even played the game to form a valid opinion.

I am a huge partisan of innovative control schemes and different ways of playing games. I like to step out of my comfort zone and continually traverse uncharted territory in the gaming landscape. So the prospect of flying and shooting in different directions via Star Fox Zero’s distinctive GamePad usage excites me tremendously – the challenge of mastering a wholly new control scheme is one of my favourite aspects of gaming. I’ll champion (good) motion controls until the sands of time in my hourglass of life (that’s a big hourglass!) have depleted!

Till this day, whenever I hear gamers lambasting the motion controls in Wii Sports Resort, the Super Mario Galaxies, Zelda: Skyward Sword, Metroid Prime Trilogy, and Splatoon, etc. I look at (or write back to) them as if they’re mad. I’ll never understand the parochial attitudes towards motion controls in general. A lot of gamers, it would seem, are quite averse to change. And that saddens me.

But I digress. With Platinum Games on board I just know the action in Star Fox Zero is going to be sublime. For the doubters: may I remind you of the amazing Star Fox Easter egg in Bayonetta 2? I rest my case! Coupled with Nintendo’s guidance and Shigeru Miyamoto’s penchant for innovation and great game design, my hopes are high that Star Fox Zero shall excel and exceed in restoring the franchise to its former glories. Not to mention keeping my beloved on-rail shooter genre alive a while longer!Galvanized GamerPS: When can we expect your reviews for Star Fox Zero and Guard, GC? And are you going to appraise both games as one whole experience or as separate games?

GC: How do you ‘know’ these things? Have you played it? There are certainly no guarantees, and nobody was being ‘cantankerous’ about the motion controls – the game appeared worryingly flawed at E3 last year, and was rightly criticised. Nintendo must’ve have agreed to some degree as they delayed it by several months shortly after.